Player-piano pedal.



W. BEDFORD da R. K'. THUMLER. PLAYER PIANO PEDAL. APPILIOATION FILED 00T. a1, 1910.

1,009,634, Patented N0v.21, 1911. a SHEETS-SHEET 1.

ATTORNEYS W. BEDFORD & R. K. THUMLER. PLAYER PIANO PEDAL,

l APPLICATION FILED OT.31, 1910. 1,009,634'. Patented Nov.21,1911

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2,

W. BEDFORD &1R. K. THUMLER. PLAYER PIANO PEDAL. APPLIGTION FILED 00T. 31, 1910.

Patented 11011.21, 1911.

?, 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

memm MQ ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PAEENT oFFIoE.

i," WILLIAM BEDFORD AND ROBERT K. TIIUMLER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNORS TO HENRY .AND S. GJLNDEMAN; A CORPORATION 0F NEW YORK.

sLaYER-PIANO PEDAL. 'i

Pedal, of which the following is a full, clear,

and exact description.

lOur Iinvention relates to player piano pedals of the type that fold within the piano and are associated with a door which closes, 'thereby concealing the pedals when not in use.

More particularly stated, our invention comprehends a pair of pedals mounted to Swingin and out through a doorway with which the piano casing is provided, the pedals being partially supported at points l y located within the casing by aid of a pair of l so ` 4, ing drawings forming a part of this speci i J cation, in which similar' characters of-ref erencef indicate corresponding parts in all' rods bent into peculiar shape and so located relatively t-o the doorway that when thei door -is being closed the pedals easily pass throu'gh the doorway;v whereas, wheny the door 1s open and in its lowermostposition, the pedals extend outwardly through the doorway and while in use reach farther than the door'. .f l l Our invention further contemplates improvements in various partsassociated with the pedals of instruments of this., general character.

Reference 'is to be had to the accoIn-pal'ithe figures.

^ Figure 1 1s a view partly'in side elevation "t and partly in section, showing our pedals appliedta player piano vand also showing the `swin ing door and various other parts associate lwith the pedals; Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking'in the direction of the arrow; Fig.

. 3 is a fragmentary section on the' line 3-3 of Fig. 4, looking in the direction ofthe arrow; 'and Fig. L tis a fragmentary, front elevation of the piano casing with the door loscd, the pedals being now invisible 'because hidden by the door.

Apianorasinggis shownat 5 and is provided with posts andwtlia front wall 7.

this wall having a doorway 8 through it.

adapted toswing so as to open and close' The door is providedl the doorway 8.

with slots 10L (see Fig. 2). Links 12'eX- -tend through these slots and are pivotally Theselinks are connected with Ithe door. secured to a bar 13 carrying posts 14 which are provided at their bottoms with rubber cushions 15 for engaging the floor.

, Mounted upon the ends'of the bar 13 are two lugs 16 provided with 'sockets and fitting into these sockets are two arms 17 which are of considerable length and are each provided with two bends, as will be understood from Fig. '1.. One of thev arms 17 is connected rigidly with a stub shaft 18 (see Fig. 2) and this shaft extends through` a bearing bracket v19. A crank arm 20 is secured rigidly upon the stub shaft 18 and is pivotally connected witha pitman 21. The otherarm 17 is connected with a stub shaft 22 (see left of Fig.

.2) the latter being Vprovided with ahead 4 i .Specification of Letters Patent. Patented NOV, 21, 1911, p Application ld 0ctober'31, 1910. lSerial No. 589,861.

The pedals are shown at 24 and are journaled upon'the bar-13. Two pitmen 25 are pivotally connected with the pedals 24, these two pitmen being also pivotally connected with links 26, the latter being in turn connected by pivots with bellows 27. These.

bellows are provided respectively with rigid backs 27a upon which the bearing brackets I ,19 are rigidly secured. At 28 is asuspension rod, there being two of these rods 'Ina-tj ing each other and each rod being pivotally connected with one pitman 25 and its corresponding link 26. Each suspension rod 28 is also pivotally connected with the' bearing 29l secured rigidly upon the bellows back 27?. A cross bar is shown at 30 and'carries a screw 31 which serves the purpose of a limiting stop for the pedals as'they are moved into one of their normal positions, as hereiafter explained. Aspring 32 is connected with the `cross bar 30 and also withbar 13, thepurpose of this springl being to par@`V tially counterbalance the weight of ,the pedals so that com' aratively little labor .will

necessary to shi tthe'm into di-/ferent positions, andmovements of the pedals are notrapt to bemade with undue suddenness casing and the door '10 is bar 30. A screen 85 having or'vshock.' The bar Av13 carries a cushion 33 of formof a Wide board With an upturned portiona is mounted upon the foot rail 9 by aid of hinges, 36. vThe screen S'servesito hide the' interior of the Vcasing when the( 'pedals 24 occupy the position indicated in Fig. 1. The screen 35 serves the further purpose of cushioning'abrup't movements of the pedals 24 when the llatter are moved into,I The their` position indicated in F ig. 3. spring 34 is stretched when the parts occupy the 'positions last mentioned, as'vvill be understood from Fig. 3. The screen 35 is cut aivay upon its opposite sides au shown at 37 (Fig. 2) for the purpose of accommodating various links and other movabfnai-ts.

The pedals 21. are provided with cushions 38 which are adapted to engage the ad jacent surface of the screen 235 are moved into the casing (see Fig. 3). The pitman 21 is pivotallyconnected with a crank arm 39 (see Fig. 1) the latter being secured rigidly upon a shaft 40 and coni nected with, this shaft is a handle 41, The

operator, by rocking the handle 41 tothe right or the left, causes the pitman 21 to be raised 1 lowered. This pltman operating thror. :l1 The crank 20 causes the shaft 18 to rock a .id this shaft, when rocked in one direction. tends to move the arms .17 .into the position indicated ,in Fig. 1, and when Uttar-:ed in the opposite direction tends to tion of the two shaftslS, 2Q

bring the arms into in Fig. 3.

The bearing brackets 19 are disposed be'- 'loW the upper-level of the toot rail 9 so that the shafts 1S (see Fig. l)l and the shaft 22 (see Fig. are somewhat lower than the upper surface of this foot rail. The locabelovv the top of' the foot -rail 9 has a peculiar effect upon the relative movements assumed by the pedals 24`andthe door 10. Whenever the. door 10 and pedals 2/1'occupy'the position indicated. in Fig. l-that is to say, whenever the arms 17 aresivung outwardly upon their centers-of movementthe bar 13 auf"- the outer ends of the pedals 24 extend out beyond the limits of the doorlO. Vvrhen. however, the door 10 is being closed, and consequently the pedals 9.4 are being pushed back into their positions indicated in Fig-3, the arms 17 cause the bar 13 to be lowered, `in a sense, relatively to the upper boundary of the doorway 8 and thus are enabled to the position indicated pass through this doorway. 1Whenever the generally the as the pedals the screw' 31 back into the '1,0% 634 BEST AVAILABLE COP` tion of the 4bar 13. It would seem at first blush that it, with the parts in the positions indicated in Fig. 3, the uppermost portion of the bar 13 is lower than the upper portion of the door 10, the opening of the door, and consequent lowering of the bar .i3 as the parts are noted into the positions indicated in Fig. 1 would enable the door l!) to project out a conviderable distance to the left according to F l, so that the outermost edge of the door might extend beyond the outermost edge of the bar 13. This. however, preveut'ml by the relative position. given to the sla-a is 1.8. 2Q, and by bending the rods 17 sonsto enable 4them to clear the top of the foot rail 9. By bending the rods 1'4" into the form shown in the drawings, and byjourualing these rods inside of the foot rail 9 and below the upper surface thereof, the parts so coact with each other that when the pedals 24. arms 17 and door l0 are swung' to the'left according to FigV l. the outer edge ot the door 10 comes veli Within .the vertical plane oecupied b y the posts 14.

By the arrangement above described, when the door. 10 isopened. as indicated in Fig. l, the Weightof the pedals 24, the door 10, the bar 13 and various adjacent parts rests entirely upon the posts 14 and consequently upon .the cushions 15. lVhem howcvei-l the door 10'is closed and the various parl s associated With the door are consequently moved back through the doorway 8 and through the casing, the doorv 10 presents to the eye no cushions or anything else to indicate thatclaim'as new and desire to secure by Leb l ters Patent:

1. The combination of .-1 casing provided with a doorway.l a doo'` iournatfd at its bol'- tom and free to swing fmtnaz'illy in order to ope: said doorwar, bellen-s mounted within said casing, pedal, connections from said pedal to-said bellows lor actuating the latter, and a rigid rod journaled at one ot its ends to said pedal and journaled at its other end to a fixed point located Within the .casing and below the lowest portion ot' said doorway, said rigid rod being bent in order to clear the bottom of said doorway when said door is open, and long enough to guide .the outer end of said pcd 1l clear ot the outer boundary of said door v.then the latter is swung outward.

2. The combination .of a casing providetfl -with a doorway, a door journaled at its bottom and free to swing outwzndly. in order to open said doorway, bellows mounted within said casing, a pedal, connections when said door is open, and long enough to guide the outer end of said pedal clear of the outer boundary of said door when the latter is swung outward, and a exible connection from said pedal to said door.

3. The combination of a casing provided with a doorway, a door mounted to swing for the purpose of opening and closing said doorway, bellows mountedwithin said casing, a pedal, connections extending from one end oi said pedal and journaled to said bellows, a rigid rod journaled to the opposite end of said pedal and also journaled to a fixed point disposed within said easing and below said doorway, said rigid rod being arched upwardly where it extends through the better: "Se said doorway, in order to f guide said pedal outwardly beyond the limits of said doorway when said door is open.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this speeieation in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLAM BEDFORD, ROBERT K. THUMLER. Witnesses:

EMIL A. EICHNER, H. C. ZHIRNY.

Copies ofthl patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

` Washington, B. C. 

